MULTI-FLOOR FACILITY LAYOUT IMPROVEMENT USING SYSTEMATIC
LAYOUT PLANNING AND SIMULATION
SEYEDEH SABEREH HOSSEINI
A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the award of the degree
of Master of Engineering (Industrial Engineering)
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
JANUARY 2013
iii
Thanks God to enable me performing this research, I would like to dedicate this
dissertation to my beloved father and mother who taught me how to be strong and
ambitious and to my beloved brother and best friends whose positive energies always
support me the best way.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A debt of gratitude to my talented supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wong Kuan
Yew for his high dedication, advises and superb guidance, which prepared me in
overcoming the challenges in this master project.
I would also like to thank my co supervisor, Dr. Seyed Ahmad Helmi bin
Syed Hassan for his kind guidance and all those who have been involved in making
this project a success.
And finally, warm thanks to the manager and personnel of METALKUB
Company for their support and providing data that is used in the facility layout
planning analysis.
v
ABSTRACT
Every factory encounters with different layout problems from time to time
and the operating efficiency of a manufacturing company is significantly influenced
by its plant layout. Lack of consideration to facility planning and work flow design,
as the company grows, is common. METALKUB is such a company that produces
different types of cards and it is located in Iran. This company is facing with two
problems in its production layout of which one of them is high distance between
packaging department at first floor and pickup storage in ground floor that have high
frequency of flow each day. Workers should walk through a long distance between
these two departments which lead to high travelling time. Another problem is cross-
traffic between some departments at first floor. The objective of this project is
minimizing total traveling time, distance and number of cross-traffic. Systematic
Layout Planning is employed to identify work/information flow through operation of
products. Using this information, design alternative is created which decreases the
travelling time and distance of the production flow. The effectiveness of proposed
layout is determined using ARENA simulation academic version. Total travel
distance from packaging process until keeping in warehouse is reduced significantly
by 8417.5 m to 5023 m, which subsequently reduces time of travel as well. The
number of cross-traffic is decreased from 38 to 24.
vi
ABSTRAK
Setiap kilang menghadapi dengan masalah susun atur yang berbeza dari masa
ke masa dan kecekapan operasi syarikat pembuatan ketara dipengaruhi oleh susun
atur kilang. Kekurangan pertimbangan kepada perancangan kemudahan dan aliran
kerja reka bentuk, apabila syarikat tumbuh, adalah perkara biasa. Metalkub adalah
sebuah syarikat yang menghasilkan jenis kad yang berbeza dan ia terletak di Iran.
Syarikat ini sedang menghadapi dengan dua masalah pada susun atur pengeluaran
yang mano salah satu ialah jarak yang jauh antara jabatan pembungkusan di tingkat
pertama dan penyimpanan kutipan di tingkat bawah yang mempunyai kekerapan
aliran yang tinggi setiap hari . Pekerja harus berjalan dengan jarak yang jauh di
antara kedua-dua jabatan yang membawa kepada masa perjalanan.Yang tinggi satu
lagi masalah ialah trafik rentas antara beberapa jabatan di tingkat pertama. Objektif
projek ini adalah meminimumkan jumlah perjalanan masa, jarak dan bilangan trafik
rentas untuk memaksimakan kualiti, fleksibiliti dan penggunaan ruang. Perancangan
Susunatur sistematik digunakan untuk mengenal pasti kerja / aliran maklumat
melalui operasi produk. Menggunakan maklumat ini, reka bentuk alternatif dicipta
untuk mengurangkan masa perjalanan dan jarak aliran pengeluaran. Keberkesanan
susun atur yang dicadangkan adalah ditentukan menggunakan ARENA versi simulasi
akademik. Jumlah jarak perjalanan dari proses pembungkusan jabatan sehingga
penyimpanan dalam gudang dikurangkan dengan ketara sebanyak 8417,5 m ke 5023
m, dan seterusnya mengurangkan masa perjalanan. Bilangan trafik rentas menurun
dari 38 ke 24.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES xii
LIST OF FIGURE xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES xv
1 INTROUDUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Background of research 2
1.3 Objective of study 3
1.4 Scope of study 4
1.5 Significance of study 4
1.6 Organization of thesis 5
1.7 Conclusion 6
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Facility layout planning 7
2.2.1 Objectives of facilities planning 9
viii
2.2.2 Factor affecting facilities layout
planning
2.3 Traditional types of facilities layout
2.4 Non Traditional Types of Facilities Layout
2.5 Reviews on Layout Planning Techniques
2.6 Multi floor facility layout
2.6.1 The size and shape of building
2.6.2 Available time and movement
2.6.2 Departmental information
2.6.4 Objective function
2.7 Previous researches which improved Multi-
Floor Facility Layout
2.8 Techniques for facilities layout
2.9 Heuristic procedures for the FLP
2.9.1 Apple’s Plant Layout Procedures
2.9.2 Reed’s Plant layout Procedure
2.9.3 Muther’s Systematic Layout Planning
(SLP) Procedure
2.10 Simulation
2.10.1 Trends in Simulation
2.10.2 Simulation Software
2.11 Comparison this project with other previous
works
2.12 Conclusion
10
10
13
14
17
18
18
19
19
20
23
24
24
25
26
28
30
30
31
32
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33
3.1 Introduction 33
3.2 Research Design 33
3.2.1 Phase I 35
3.2.2 Phase II
3.2.3 Phase III
35
36
ix
3.2.3.1 Input Data and Activities
3.2.3.2 Flow of Materials Analysis
3.2.3.3 The activity relationship chart
3.2.3.4 Relationship Diagram
3.2.3.5 Space Requirements
3.3.3.6 Space available
3.2.3.7 Space Relationship Diagram
3.2.3.8 Modifying Constraints
3.2.3.9 Practical Limitations
3.2.3.10 Develop Layout Alternatives
3.2.3.11 Evaluation
37
37
38
38
39
39
40
40
41
41
41
3.2.4 Phase IV
3.2.5 Phase V
42
42
3.3 Conclusion 43
4 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 44
4.1 Introduction 44
4.2 Problem Identification 44
4.2.1 Material flow between departments
4.3 Company Process Mapping
4.4 Flow analysis and measurement
4.5 Distance measurement
4.5.1 From-To chart analysis
4.5.2 Overall From-To-Chart
4.5.3 Overall From-To-Chart with
Closeness Rating
4.6 Conclusion
45
46
51
51
52
53
54
56
5 SYSTEMATIC LAYOUT PLANNING
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Input Data
5.3.1 Standard Time
57
57
58
58
x
5.3.2 Standard Time Determination
5.3 Flow Of Materials
5.4 Activity Relationship Chart
5.5 Relationship Diagram
5.6 Space requirements
5.7 Space Available
5.8 Space Relationship Diagram
5.9 Modifying Constraints
5.10 Practical Limitation
5.11 Develop Layout Alternatives
5.11.1 Design I
5.11.2 Design II
5.11.3 Design III
5.12 Conclusion
59
63
63
64
66
66
67
68
69
69
69
70
71
72
6 DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELING
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Simulation Software: Arena 13.9
6.3 Performance Measures
6.4 Simulation Model Development
6.4.1 Assumptions
6.4.2 Model Verification
6.4.3 Model Validation
6.5 Conclusion
73
73
73
75
75
77
78
79
83
7 SIMULATION EXPERIMENTATION AND
RESULTS
84
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Experimentation
7.2.1 Experiment 1: Layout Design 1
84
84
85
7.2.2. Experiment 2: Layout Design 2
7.2.3…Experiment 3: Layout Design 3
87
88
xi
7.3 Cost estimation for layouts improvement
7.4 Discussion
7.5 Conclusion
90
92
93
8 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 94
8.1 Introduction 94
8.2 Summary of the study 94
8.3 Research findings
8.4 Recommendation
8.5 Conclusion
95
95
96
REFERENCE 97
APPENDIX A-J 100-142
xii
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE
2.1 Advantages and limitations of fixed product layout 11
2.2 Advantages and limitations of Cellular layout 11
2.3 Advantages and limitations of product layout 12
2.4 Advantages and limitations of process layout 13
2.5 Layout Planning Techniques and Time line 15
2.6 Summary of previous projects 20
2.7 Summary of previous projects 21
4.1 Label of departments 48
4.2
4.3
4.4
Distance between departments
Number of material flow between departments per day
Total distance travelled between departments per day
52
53
54
4.5
4.6
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
Activity closeness relationship
Overall from to chart with closeness rating
Wedding cards processes
Packets of Wedding process
Christmas and personal card processes
Packets Process for Christmas and personal card
classic cards and posters cards processes
Packets process for classic cards and posters cards
process
Preliminary suggestions for activity relationship chart
between departments
Space requirement information
55
56
60
60
61
61
62
62
64
67
xiii
6.1
6.2
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
The results of running the simulation model
Comparison between simulated and actual values
The overall distance for layout design 1
Performance measures for Layout Design 1
From-to chart for the total travelled distance between
departments
Performance measures for design 2
The overall from-to chart for layout design 3
The performance measures for layout design 3
The results that have been obtained by simulation
The results that have been obtained manually
81
82
85
86
87
88
89
90
92
92
xiv
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE
2.1 Nontraditional types of facilities layout 14
3.1 Research methodology 34
3.2 SLP Procedures( Tompkins, 2010) 36
4.1 The cross-traffic of existing facility layout 45
4.2 Flow Process Chart 47
4.3 Christmas & personal cards and packets flow 49
4.4 Classic and personal cards and packets flow 49
4.5 Wedding cards and packets flow 50
4.6
5.1
5.2
The overall material flow in the existing layout Number
Relationship diagram
Space relationship diagram
50
65
68
5.3
5.4
5.5
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
Layout design 1
Layout design 2
Layout design 3
Examples of Flowchart modules
Examples of Data Modules
The animation view of model
The simulation results for average transfer time
The warm-up period
70
71
72
74
74
77
79
80
xv
LIST OF APPENDIX
APPENDIX TITLE PAGE
A Data and Sample Size of Cycle Time 102
B Data of transportation time for Current Layout (40
Observations)
105
C Data of transportation time for Layout Alternative 1 122
D Data of transportation time for Layout Alternative 2 123
E Data of transportation time for Layout Alternative 3 124
F Symbols of Operation Process Chart (OPC) 125
G Current Layout Model 126
H Design I 130
I
J
Design II
Design III
135
140
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
With rapid increase of demand in production, industrial factories need to
increase their potentials in production and effectiveness to compete against their
market rivals. Therefore, the way to solve this production problem is very important.
There are many ways to solve the problems concerning productivity such as quality
control, total quality management, Standard time and plant layout. Facility Layout
Problem (FLP) is described as the efficient formation of physical departments that
are identified to be difficult and are normally NP-Hard (Enea et al. 2005). Layout
designing objectives lead to minimize the total cost of material transportation and
maximize the total closeness rating between some departments. On the other hand, as
the criterion for evaluation of layout plans, satisfaction or goodness of closeness
between pairs of facilities is also considered (Krishna and Jaafari, 2009).
Typically, the total distance travelled by the “materials” in the facility is used
as a proxy for the cost of the facility layout and as a quality indicator in the facility
design. Single floor problems and multi floor problems are the major classification.
Researches for multi-floor facility layout problems (MFFLP) have been conducted
2
over a period of years as the multi-floor (multi story) plants which are favorable in
terms of utilizing their site efficiently. MFFLPs are more complicated than single
floor problems; consequently a lot of researches, using computers, have been
conducted (Kohara and Yamamoto, 2008). The focus of this project is on the
company with two-floor production operation in which the vertical transportations
are done by elevator (Goetschalckx and Irohara, 2007).
The waiting time of vertical transportation, like using an elevator, is more than
horizontal one; therefore, the minimization of total waiting time depends on the time
consumed in vertical transportation in multi-floor layout (Matsuzaki et al. 1999). The
background of the study and the problem definition are discussed in this chapter to
describe what the objectives of the thesis are and how improvement challenges are
supposed to be solved. Then, Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) is implied to find
the better layout in order to decrease the distance and travelling time between
departments that have high frequency of material flows between each other. In order
to evaluate the proposed alternative layouts, ARENA simulation is used. All these
concepts are briefly described in the scope of the study. After considering the scope
of study, the goals and advantages are discussed as the significance of the study.
Finally, the structure of the rest of the thesis is described to present how this project
is going to accomplish the study.
1.2 Background of research
Multi-floor facilities are constructed in countries or areas with high land cost
because usable land is either very limited and/or very expensive, especially as one
gets closer to industrialized zones. A comparison between MFFLP and single-floor
layout problem is, because of vertical traveling between floors, MFFLP is more
challenging than single-floor layout problem. The layout analysts should be aware of
some factors that may affect the quality and efficiency of any multi-floor facility
3
layout such as the number and location of vertical handling devices to put, the
congestion and delays that may be occurred between departments (Tompkins et al.
2010).
The case study is the company of cards production where the plant layout of
the manufacturing company is not properly designed. The materials at ground floor
should be transferred by elevator to level one in order to send to different
departments. The products after packaging at first floor should be shipped to the final
product storage that is located at ground floor. There is a long distance between these
two departments that consume a lot of time as well. Another problem which has been
found at this company is the cross-traffic flow of materials between departments that
occur at first floor. As a result, proper evaluation and improvement to the existing
layout is done to overcome this problem. To experiment the manufacturing activities
without actual implementation we can use some tools such as computer simulation
which can be applied as a stochastic model to estimate the uncertainty of events.
Simulation is capable to determine the movement and interactions of system
components and can help to design the complex layout and also for examining the
flexibility of a design which enables users to evaluate alternative solutions.
1.3 Objective of the study
i. Identify the layout problems in the manufacturing company
ii. Develop improved layouts using SLP
iii. Determine the effectiveness of the proposed alternative layouts using
simulation
4
1.4 Scope of the study
The scopes of this project are as follow:
a) Three different types of cards processes in two floors of the company are
considered to be improved
b) SLP procedure will be used to generate the alternative layouts.
c) ARENA software will be used to evaluate future layout alternatives for
simulation.
d) The distance between each department is calculated using the rectilinear
method.
e) Process total time, transfer time, distance, number of cross-traffics, output
and cost are selected as performance measures. Travelling time and
distances are quantified
1.5 Significance of study
SLP procedures are applied in this project to improve MFFLP using computer
simulation. The greatest benefits to be expected of this study for the improvement
processes are maximizing closeness rating and minimizing total travel time and
distance.SLP uses a graphical representation and makes up a proximity matrix which
depicts the closeness of each facility. Flowcharts can also be used to show
quantitative relationships. By simulation, the movement and interaction of system
component in departments could be estimated. It is able of aiding in the design of the
most difficult automated materials handling system and also helps the user to
estimate alternative solutions and to check the flexibility of a design (Eneyo and
Pannirselvam,1998).
5
1.6 Organization of thesis
Chapter 1 begins with an indication of Facilities Layout Planning explanations
and its principles. The Objectives and Scopes of the study are defined. Background
of problem and significance of finding are described at this chapter.
In chapter 2, some definitions, principles, and approaches of single FLP and
MFFLP, heuristic procedures and simulation are demonstrated. Some previous
studies which apply different types of solution methods and simulation on single FLP
and MFFLP are reviewed in this chapter.
Chapter 3 provides the methodology which has been used to show the
procedures of this research including types of data to be collected, tools and
techniques to improve the layout and performance measures.
In chapter 4, the identification of problems that exist in current layout is
described. The process flow for each product will be observed and documented. The
distances travelled by the workers are calculated. Tools such as cross-over chart,
From-To-Charts are used to illustrate the closeness importance between each
department.
In Chapter 5, SLP will apply for the generation of layout alternatives. SLP is
used in this case study as it is a procedural approach which incorporates both
qualitative and quantitative data. Three alternatives layouts will be depicted to
improve the facilities layout of the company.
Chapter 6 will apply the ARENA software to make the model from current
layout and proposed improvement layouts. The types of data distribution will be
6
justified. The model will be validated and verified. The results will be analyzed and
compared with the current layout. Finally the results of each alternative layout are
compared to choose the one with the most significant improvement to the company.
1.7 Conclusion
In the beginning of this chapter, an overview of the MFFLP and the
importance of facility layout as the main principle for this project are written. The
objectives and scopes of study are described. It is indicated that the use of ARENA
may improve the performance of company by minimizing its travelling time and
distance. At the end of this chapter, the overall structure of the thesis is mentioned.
Subsequently, the literature review of improving MFFLP by SLP and simulation will
be discussed in the following chapter to further enhance the reader’s understanding.
99
REFERENCE
Abdinnour-Helm, S. and S. W. Hadley (2000). "Tabu search based heuristics for multi-floor facility
layout." International Journal of Production Research 38(2): 365-383.
Abdinnour-Helm, S. and S.W. Hadley (1995). "An iterative layout heuristic for multi-Floor facilities."
Decision Science Institute Proceedings, Boston, MA.
Abdinnour-Helm, S. and S. W. Hadley (2010). "Tabu search based heuristics for multi-floor facility
layout." International Journal of Production Research 38(2): 365-383.
Aiello G, Enea M, et al. (2006). "A multi-objective approach to facility layout problem by genetic
search algorithm and Electre method. Robot." Comput. Integr. Manuf. 22: 447-455.
Aiello, S., A. O'Hara, et al. (2007). "Systematic Layout Plan for Baystate Benefit Services." Capstone
Design Program: Industrial Engineering.
Al-Sudairi A. A., (2007) Evaluating the effect of construction process characteristics to the
applicability of lean principles, Construction Innovation, 7, 99-121.
APPLE , J. M. (1963). Plant Layout and Materials Handling. New York, Ronald Press.
Barbee, G. (,1996). "The Best Laid Plans - Part 1." Bobbin 37(11): 99-101.
BAZARAA, M. S. (1975). "Computerized Layout Design: A Branch and Bound Approach." AIIE
Trans 7: 432-428.
BLOCK, T. E. (1977). "A Note on 'Comparison of Computer Algorithms and Visual Based Methods
for Plant Layout' by M. Scriabin and R. C. Vergin." Management Science 24: 235-237.
Bozer., Y. A., E. D.Meller., et al. (1994). "An improvement-type layout algorithm for single and
multiple-floor facilities." Management Science 40(7): 918-932.
Chien, T.-K. (2004). "An empirical study of facility layout using a modified SLP procedure." Journal
of Manufacturing Technology Management 15(6): 455-465.
Daiki Kohara and H. Yamamoto (2008). "Efficient Algorithms Based on Branch and Bound Methods
for Multi Floor Facility Layout Problems."
100
Dimitrios I. Patsiatzis and L. G. Papageorgiou (2002). "Optimal multi-floor process plant layout."
Computers and Chemical Engineering 26: 575–583
Enea M, Galante G, et al. ((2005)). "The facility layout problem approached using a fuzzy model and
a genetic search." Intell. Manuf 16: 303-316.
Eneyo, E. S. and G. P. Pannirselvam (1998). "The Use of Simulation in Facility Layout Design A
Practical Consulting Experience." Proceedings of the 1998 Winter Simulation Conference U.S.:
1527-1532.
Eneyo, E. S. and G. P. Pannirselvam (,1998). "The Use of Simulation in Facility Layout Design A
Practical Consulting Experience." Proceedings of the 1998 Winter Simulation Conference U.S.:
1527-1532.
F. Ramtin, M. Abolhasanpour, et al. (2010). "OptimalMulti Floor Facility Layout." Proceedings of the
International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists 3.
Foulds, L. R. (1983). "Techniques for Facilities Layout." Management Science 29(12): 1414-1426.
G. Q. Zhang, J. Xue, et al. (2002). "class of genetic algorithms for multiple-level warehouse layout
problem." International Journal of Production Research 40(3): 731-744.
Heizer, J. and B. Render (2006). "Operations Management." New Jersey: Pearson International
Edition.
James A.Tompkins, John A.White, et al. (2010). Facilities Planing. New York; John Wiley & Sons
Inc.
James A.Tompkins, J. A. W., Yavuz A.Bozer, J.M.A.Tanchoco (2010). "Facilities Planing."
Johnson, R. V. (1982). "SPACECRAFT FOR MULTI-FLOOR LAYOUT PLANNING."
Management Science 28: 407-417.
Kenichiro Matsuzaki, Takashi Irohara, et al. (1999). "Heuristic algorithm to solve the multi-floor
layout problem with the consideration of elevator utilization." Computers & Industrial
Engineering 36: 487-502.
Krishna k. Krishnan1 and A. A. Jaafari (2009). "A mixed integer programming formulation for multi
floor layout." African Journal of Business Management 3: 616-620.
101
Marc Goetschalckx and T. Irohara (2007). "Efficient Algorithms Based on Branch and Bound
Methods for Multi Floor Facility Layout Problems."
Dorigo, Marco, Mauro Birattari, and Thomas Stutzle "Ant colony optimization." Computational
Intelligence Magazine, IEEE 1.4 (2004): 28-39.
MELLER,R.D. and BOZER,Y.A., 1997, Alternative approaches to solve the multi-Floor facility
layout problem, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 16, 192± 203.
Mirzapourrezaei, S.A.; Lalmazloumian, M.; Dargi, A.; Kuan Yew Wong; , "Simulation of a
Manufacturing Assembly Line Based on WITNESS," Computational Intelligence,
Communication Systems and Networks (CICSyN), 2011 Third International Conference on ,
vol., no., pp.132-137, 26-28 July 2011.
MUTHER, R. (1955). Practical Plant Layout. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Muther, R. (1973). Systematic Layout planning. Boston, Chaners Books.
Nikakhtar A., Wong K. Y., Zarei M. H., and Memari A., (2011) Comparison of two simulation
software systems for modeling a construction process, Proceedings of 2011 Third International
Conference on Computational Intelligence, Modelling & Simulation, Langkawi, Malaysia.
Taho Yang, Chao-Ton Su, et al. (2000). "Systematic layout planning: a study on semiconductor wafer
fabrication facilities." International Journal of Operations & Production Management 20(11):
1359-1371.
Wang S. and Halpin D.W., (2004) Simulation experiment for improving construction processes
Proceedings of the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference, Washington, DC, USA.
W. Wiyaratn and A. Watanapa (2010). "Improvement Plant Layout Using Systematic Layout Planning
(SLP) for Increased Productivity." World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology.
Yanru Chen , Qinxin Xiao, et al. (2011). "Product Layout Optimization and Simulation Model in a
Multi-level Distribution Center." Systems Engineering Procedia 2: 300 – 307.
Zhang, K. K. L. C. (2006). "path relinking and genetic algorithms for the multiple-level warehouse
layout problems." European Journal of Operational Research 169(2): 413-425.